Strategic Thinking and Planning - Virtual Learning

Why Attend

An organization without a strategy is like a ship without a rudder. How can organizations continue to provide exceptional value to stakeholders and customers if they are not clear on where they are heading and how they will get there? The answer is they can't. This is where the role of strategy becomes essential. Strategy is about setting ambitious goals, understanding the surrounding current and future environment and providing a sense of direction for the organization. In this course, we will cover the 7 steps of the strategy management process, starting with the 'thinking' components of strategy, moving into the 'planning' components and ending with 'execution'.

Course Objectives

By the end of the course, participants will be able to:

Apply strategic thinking to analyze an organization’s current environment
Employ the strategic management process to best achieve the desired ambition
Choose strategies that create a sustainable competitive advantage for the organization
Determine strategic objectives, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and 'SMART' targets for the organization

Target Audience

All managers and senior professionals who are involved in influencing, formulating or supporting the long term planning and strategy of their department or organization, as well as those who are responsible for linking, measuring and improving the performance of the organization, including strategy or performance management professionals, balanced scorecard managers, business unit and department managers and business analysts.

Target Competencies

Strategic thinking
Strategic planning
Performance management
Results orientation
Critical thinking

Strategic thinking and planning
- Strategy safari
- The strategic management process
- Strategic thinking versus strategic planning
- Benefiting from strategic management
- Analysis of the environment
  - Porter's 5 forces
  - Creating and capturing value
  - Conducting a SWOT analysis
  - Fundamentals of the PEDESTL framework
Vision, mission statements and values
- Using vision and mission statements
- Definition of vision statements
- Formulating vision statements
- Definition of mission statements
- Formulating mission statements
- Embracing organizational values
- Communicating the vision, mission and values
Assessing strategic choices
- Porter's generic competitive strategies
- Value chain
- Innovating in the industry value chain
- Developing a competitive advantage
Strategic objectives, KPIs and targets
- Ensuring strategic alignment in the organization
- Developing effective strategic objectives
- Using the Balanced Scorecard (BSC)
- Using Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
- Characteristics of the right KPIs
- Developing different types of KPIs
- Setting SMART targets

Meirc Professional Certificate (MPC)

MPC certified courses by Meirc Training and Consulting are designed for those willing to challenge themselves and go the extra distance. Participants who fully attend an MPC course and successfully complete the test on the last day, will receive a Meirc Professional Certificate (MPC), in addition to the one they receive for attendance. MPC certificates are regionally recognized and can be quite valuable when applying for more senior roles within the organization or outside.